Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The richest Americans control $46 trillion in wealth—but many pay little or no federal tax.
@bostoncollege law professor Ray Madoff, author of "The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy," explains how a century of tax policy created two Americas: one that pays taxes and one that doesn’t.
Drawing on her new book, Madoff reveals how the wealthy use legal tools—inheritance loopholes, trusts, and philanthropy—to avoid taxation altogether. She shows how “charitable giving” often benefits billionaires more than the public, and how our tax code has quietly built an American aristocracy.
Madoff calls for a new vision of stewardship—where wealth is once again tied to responsibility, and the public good comes before private dynasties.
Find the book: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo256019296.html
Learn more about her work: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/law/academics-faculty/faculty-directory/ray-madoff.html/
The richest Americans control $46 trillion in wealth—but many pay little or no federal tax.
@bostoncollege law professor Ray Madoff, author of "The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy," explains how a century of tax policy created two Americas: one that pays taxes and one that doesn’t.
Drawing on her new book, Madoff reveals how the wealthy use legal tools—inheritance loopholes, trusts, and philanthropy—to avoid taxation altogether. She shows how “charitable giving” often benefits billionaires more than the public, and how our tax code has quietly built an American aristocracy.
Madoff calls for a new vision of stewardship—where wealth is once again tied to responsibility, and the public good comes before private dynasties.
Find the book: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo256019296.html
Learn more about her work: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/law/academics-faculty/faculty-directory/ray-madoff.html/
![Intellectual Property Is Broken [Dean Baker]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cJJZUgt8kVM/mqdefault.jpg "Intellectual Property Is Broken [Dean Baker]
Why are we incentivizing wealth at the expense of health?
Dean Baker (@cepr) breaks down why our intellectual property system is in desperate need of reform.
Produced by Matthew Kulvicki & Nick Alpha")
